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Gear changers have been used in the past in international track racing. The kilo champion of Canada, Jocelyn Lovell used a two speed rear hub in the World Championships in the early 1980's. Lovell's system of drive chains on both sides of the rear axle was used by Gene Samuel of Trinidad in the 1992 Olympics to place 8th. Also in the 1992 Olympics, Adler Capelli used a derailleur gear shift in the 1000 meter time trial, and placed 5th. The Browning automatic transmission is technologically advanced compared to these earlier systems and can produce the same result in a cleaner, more efficient manner shifting by using a computer model along with available research data. In 1976, I used a 200 pound unbraked flywheel to measure the rate of acceleration of a sprinter from a standing start [2]. The flywheel was driven from a stationary racing bicycle fixed to a stand.

The kilo champion of Canada, Jocelyn Lovell used a two speed rear hub in the World Championships in the early 1980's. Lovell's system of drive chains on both sides of the rear axle.........

But how did Lovell's system work? What was special about it?

Lovell use to have his own framebuilding business which was sold to Mike Mulholland who re-named the frames Cyclops. Mike passed away earlier this year.

Jocelyn Lovell - many times Canadian champion (one year he was champ in ALL the events both road AND track!) and Commonwealth Games gold medalist - is now a quadraplegic (since the 80's I think) after he was run over by a dumptruck while out training.

Is this the thing where one cog spun on while the other cog spun off? Two drivetrains?

Start off in the small gear on one side, while on the other side of the bike a second chain is tightening the bigger gear on. When it catches, the first gear freewheels and the rider can keep accelerating in the bigger gear.

If this is what you're talking about, I would love to read about it or see pictures.

Is this the thing where one cog spun on while the other cog spun off? Two drivetrains?

Start off in the small gear on one side, while on the other side of the bike a second chain is tightening the bigger gear on. When it catches, the first gear freewheels and the rider can keep accelerating in the bigger gear.

If this is what you're talking about, I would love to read about it or see pictures.

This was the drill. Two drivetrains, one cog was loose and threaded on while the rider was accelerating, then it engaged and he had a bigger gear.

Was the first (smaller) gear a freewheel? I thought those were a no-no on the track. Or did the first cog thread off into some kind of smooth part of the hub where it can do no harm?

I dont remember. I knew it was a twin crank drivetrain setup, but I couldn't remember how it worked until your post jogged my memory. I'm pretty sure that the smaller gear becomes subservient to the larger gear and the smaller cog slowly threads itself off, but I'm not entirely clear on that.

On the right side he had his normal fixed cog (sized for his finishing speed) and it was juuuuust threaded on by a thread or two.

On the other side he had a lower geared single freewheel. I guess it must have been a specially threaded hub eh? It was all carried to the track setup with pedals in the right place and track cog just threaded on.

When the gun sounded he'd set off using the lower geared freewheel (for faster acceleration!). All the while the track cog would be screwing itself onto the hub. Because it had less teeth than the freewheel, it was going faster.

When the cog came up against the hub, the freewheel freewheeled and he'd go from, say, a 15t gear to a 14t gear, thus increasing his gear after the standing start.

How did the freewheel and the cog without lockring get past the rulebook? I don't have all the answers. But you can bet had this been Graham Obree it would have been outlawed overnight.

It was a kinder, gentler UCI back then...not like the "Flying Scot Hate Club"....

Yeah poor Graham - a true visionary and driven by forces that most of us wouldn't understand. His book is on my xmas wish list. It's a pity he rocked the UCI boat and made them feel silly. After all, the Hour was one record that they considered untouchable by all but their darling pros at the top of their game. For an obscure Scot club timetrialer to do it was unthinkable. They'd have disqualified him for having a funny accent if it wasn't for his futuristic position.

Freewheels and gears are legal for individual events like the kilo and pursuit.

It's a shame more people don't try out new stuff like Obree and Lovell any more. Stupid UCI, always messing sh1t up (like letting people ride for trade teams at the Track World Cup meets, thus messing up who can and can't ride in team events and what the team will be called, not to mention the fugging ProTour).

Hi!! This is Tomity
I want to know Jocelyn Lovell in detail.
Please inform details.
I have heard the thing whose he is a great player.

Do you know Mr.Curt Harnet?
He came to International Keirin Race in Japan in 1994,1995.
I know him well.
He is 2m near and is tall.
He has a new world record. (200m flying lap 9.?sec.)
After it retires, he thinks that he became a sports journalist.

Hi!! This is Tomity
I want to know Jocelyn Lovell in detail.
Please inform details.
I have heard the thing whose he is a great player.

Jocelyn Lovell was, in his time, ('70s, '80's) the best Canadian cyclist. I think he was 2nd in the kilo world championships one year. Another year at the Canadian national championships he won gold medals in EVERY event (road and track) from the road race, 4-man team time trial and ALL the track events.
But in the 1980s while out training he was run over by a truck, nearly died and was left a quadraplegic. He now spends his life in a wheelchair and has for about twenty years.

I saw him race many times (he lives 80 minutes from me) and he won everything from 6-day track races to road races. He was a great natural rider.

Do you know Mr.Curt Harnet?
He came to International Keirin Race in Japan in 1994,1995.
I know him well.
He is 2m near and is tall.
He has a new world record. (200m flying lap 9.?sec.)
After it retires, he thinks that he became a sports journalist.

Curt was another fast Canadian cyclist but mainly a track sprinter. He was a big boy and yes he still holds the world 200m record to this day. I last saw him at the world road championships in Hamilton Ontario Canada two years ago where he was working for TV.

Did you hear of Gord Singleton? He might have been before your time. He nearly ended Nakano's (you've heard of HIM yes?) run of 10 consecutive world sprint championships. That's a long story! Gord became world Keirin champion. He now races occasionally on our track as he lives two hours from here. Gord is 50 years old but still very fast.

I've posted a pic of Jocelyn Lovell here. He's the guy on the left racing against Rob Good who owns the track we ride on.

Jocelyn passed away Friday June 3/2016 with complications from being quadrapalegic , pnemonia, breathing.
We've paid some over due tributes to him here in Canada.

Regarding the two gear bike. Both Jos and I received a photograph from some dude in Holland or Denmark in the early winter of 1979.
The pic showed this two gear Kilo bike. He wanted us to purchase one with a verbal guarantee that it would help our Kilo's to become faster.
The idea sort of died. Later that summer Jocelyn emerged at our Nat's with a two geared bike that he built himself.

The system worked like this. The drive train on the right side of the had your chosen gear. The rear sprocket was mounted with only one turn of the thread to tighten it up. As you begin to pedal the sprocket would tighten up. The drive train on the left side was threaded opposite. You started the Kilo with a smaller gear that slowly untied itself when the larger right hand side gear locked into place. The theory was to allow you to start with a smaller gear for perhaps the first 75-100 meters.
Bottom line was, it didn't work, Too much transition when the larger gear kicked in. It felt like you were doing two standing started back to back.

I was intrigued by his unique drive system. This video from the CBC archives shows some footage of Jocelyn riding the track, and although they did not deal specifically with the dual chain setup, if you look close, you can see it as he rides.CBC Archives